Tracy McGrady, mired in an unproductive first season with the Detroit Pistons, said he has no problems with criticism of his practice habits leveled by former coach Jeff Van Gundy.

"It doesn't even matter," McGrady said Saturday, according to MLive.com. "I don't take it as an insult or a jab at me at all. That's how I receive it."

Van Gundy, speaking Friday during the MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference in Boston, said McGrady failed to maximize his potential and didn't ascribe to the theory that achieving greatness requires 10,000 hours of practice.

"Tracy McGrady was 1,000 hours of practice," Van Gundy said. "He should be a Hall of Fame player. His talent was otherworldly. He was given a leg up in the race against other players."

Van Gundy and McGrady were together in Houston from 2004 to 2007 and failed to advance past the first round in the playoffs. In a 2005 series against the Dallas Mavericks, McGrady averaged 30.7 points, 6.7 assists and 7.4 rebounds, but the Rockets couldn't hold a 2-0 series lead.

Van Gundy was fired in 2007, and McGrady's final seasons with the Rockets were marked by injuries and growing discontent. In 2009-10, he appeared in six games for Houston, chiefly as a reserve, and was traded to the New York Knicks in February.

McGrady said he fondly reflects on his time with Van Gundy.

"Jeff by far is my best coach -- I've always said that," McGrady told MLIve.com. "I've told him that, and I talk to him to this day. For what Jeff says, being as talented as I was and is, for him to say that I didn't reach my full potential because of practice habits? If that's what he saw ... I don't have anything negative to say about that. That's his personal opinion."

Van Gundy, meanwhile, couched his criticism by calling McGrady the "most gifted player I've ever had on a roster."

"I like a lot of things about Tracy McGrady," he at the MIT conference. "I just wish I could have changed his practice habits and his mentality."

McGrady's standing with the Pistons -- he signed with Detroit before the 2010-11 season -- appears to be deteriorating as well; he hasn't played since skipping a shootaround on Feb. 25 and is one of several Detroit veterans who reportedly have clashed with coach John Kuester.

He answered questions from followers on Twitter early Friday night.

In response to a follower who asked him how it feels to play with the Pistons, McGrady responded: "Looks like I'm (a) day late and dollar short."

Another follower asked what he thinks of his coach. "He's trying," McGrady wrote. "Losing breeds dysfunction. We're all in it together though."

McGrady, 31, a seven-time All-Star and two-time scoring champion, is averaging 8.4 points, 3.4 rebounds and 3.5 assists for the Pistons, who are 22-41 overall.